ConsoleSports
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 28 June 2005 |
Well, in typical June fashion- not much to report. However, I figured I’d hit the front page with some comments and observations. I came up with 7 of 'em.
1. I think that June is the most boring month in sports video gaming. With the “high” of E3 in May, and no new sports games till July (NCAA), our choices are slim. Oh sure, we can play the baseball games, but football junkies such as myself are left re-playing last year’s football games and trying hard not to exploit the numerous AI holes we’ve found since last August.
2. The Pistons let me down. It’s a good thing for Tim Duncan that he saved his career by showing up in that 7th game. Talk about your disappearing acts. He was starting to resemble Marvin Harrison in the Patriots secondary….in January. One thing is for sure- Ben Wallace is a beast. There was no disappearing act from him, that’s for sure.
3. Terrell Owens is the biggest ass in professional sports. You wonder if he gets thank-you cards from Randy Moss and Maurice Clarrett for making their many team disruptions seem like high-school pranks. Good luck finding a more selfish player than Owens. I guess his current 47 million dollar contract is simply not enough for his mammoth ego. Before the 1977-78 rule change regarding downfield contact, wideouts- even the good ones- were much more humble. I’ll give you two reasons why they were more humble: the secondaries of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders. Tatum and Blount tended to make wideouts shut up and not call too much attention to themselves, especially the wideouts who had to go over the middle. Of course, this is all before the NFL turned wideouts into protected girls after the rule changes regarding downfield contact. Ah, if only we could put Owens on a time machine back to ’76. Those were the days.
4. I bet EA bought the NHL license for their games. I can’t see their graphic designers making that kind of mistake on the website with that “exclusive license mistake”. That was too calculated. They either own it, or used that as a planned “feeler” to see how the media would react if they did buy. However, I don’t recall EA ever caring about what fans and the media said about their license grabbing, so it all tends to make me think they already own the NHL license, and are just waiting to officially announce. However- like with so many things- I could be wrong.
5. I was playing a friend of mine at Madden PS2 online last night and I started to wonder if and/or when EA will ever make bump n’ run coverage realistic. The “jams” last way too long, and even middle-grade corners can cause a veritable wrestling match at the line of scrimmage with good wideouts. I mean, if EA wanted to make the game realistic they would tone down the bump n’ run played by 31 of the teams, and allow only the Patriots corners to get away with the current, overly-effective “holding” form of Bump N’ Run found in the past several years’ “Madden” games. Now THAT would be realistic.
6. In the Midway pictures showing “Ron Mexico” at QB, am I the only one who seems to notice that there’s like two offensive linemen shown in the wide-angle view. (Shown HERE) I guess it looks like Midway still went ahead with that “only 3 offensive linemen” junk they were showing a few months back. I know Bangpow and myself tried to warn their PR guy who was over at Operation Sports. He wouldn’t address the questions regarding the number of offensive linemen on the field at that time. Oh well- its not like nobody warned them… a veritable CHORUS of posters chimed in and told him the same thing- “Put 5 offensive linemen on the field, or the game becomes a joke”.
7. Do you think Sony 989 will rename “Road To Sunday” something more accurate? How about “Path To The Budget Bin”.
See you on the virtual playing fields….
Quietcool72
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 20 June 2005 |
You know, there’s few constants in the ever changing world we live in. However, we tend to remember the few “constants” we have, such as death, taxes, credit card bills, and Bill Cowher. Unfortunately, I’m starting to think we should add a new “universal constant” to our gaming lives. It started as a trend, then started to become more than a trend- it became a pervasive, ongoing thing….
And what is this thing I’m talking about, you ask?
It’s the terrible attitude that Japanese software/ hardware developers and designers have towards the American gamer, especially the SPORTS gamer.
Few trends are so easily tracked. For the past several years, E3 and other gaming expos have become a showcase for the blatant arrogance and ignorance of the game industry of the Far East. This poor attitude has been on display for some time, particularly on the part of Nintendo. Every E3 for the past decade has included speeches from people like Nintendo president Satoru Iwata that take shots at the types of games Americans like, while promoting the games NINTENDO thinks the world should be playing, such as “Nintendogs” and “Donkey Konga” that are less “adrenaline intensive” and “long”. Along those same lines, Nintendo’s legendary designer, Shigeru Miyamoto- (of Mario and Zelda fame) jumped into the fray as well with his recent comments HERE about long, immersive games (like many Americans like..)
Miyamoto: "There's not a lot I want to play now, A lot of the games out there are just too long. Of course, there are games, such as 'Halo' or 'Grand Theft Auto,' that are big and expansive. But if you're not interested in spending that time with them, you're not going to play… Rather than thinking we have a new console, let's make epic games, I want (developers) to make more unique products "
Well Shigeru, Nintendo has been trying “unique” for ten years now, and in most cases it hasn’t sold as well as the competition. Many of us remember “Virtual Boy”, the N64 cartridge media, Nintendo’s blatant ignorance to the American trend of online gaming, shoddy 1st party sports games, few games for the 18 and up crowd….
..and now they think long games are overrated?
Sorry Shigeru, but when I shell out fifty bones on a game, I expect to be it to be long and immersive (or at least I HOPE as much.) But folks, lets not be distracted from the core issue. Flat out- its not about online, or about “long games”, or about system specs, or even their attack on photo realistic graphics that their competition (such as XBOX 360 and PS3 is promoting.)
The real issue is that Nintendo and many Japanese game developers simply do not understand the gaming culture in the US, and they don’t understand why we aren’t more like them. Our cultures differ completely- especially when it comes to video games. Generally speaking, American gamers love their action games, as well as long, immersive-yet-realistic games that serve as an alternate reality. Quite often, that’s a very visceral gaming reality- such as “Grand Theft Auto San Andreas” and “Hitman”. We also like our games long- and in some cases- “never ending”- like World of Warcraft and Star Wars Galaxies. As the hardware has caught up to the American gaming culture, Nintendo and others from the Far East have failed to grasp these concepts. Quite simply, they sit back and are very ignorant to our gaming tastes. In Japan, “Cute, Cheery, and Fun” sells. In our culture, we pass on such things in favor of realism.
Nowhere is the culture gap more evident than with sports games. Even Sega- who was once one of the more open-minded publishers of sports games- got to the point where they couldn’t compete with EA, and rather than evolve, they pressured and harassed US-based Visual Concepts to the point where VC was ELATED to get out from under the Sega regime. Sega is effectively out of the sports game business, yet some would argue that Nintendo NEVER was in the sports game business. (Sorry folks, but Mario Golf and Mario Tennis isn’t going to have mass appeal here in the States.) Then, to add insult to injury, the Nintendo controllers haven’t been conducive to sports gaming since the SNES. The controllers since the SNES have gotten far too “gadgety” for their own good. Quite simply, if you are a big-time sports videogamer, you avoid Nintendo. I’m personally concerned that the super-secret Nintendo “Revolution” controller will also be too “gadgety” for its own good. (Personally, when talking controllers, I’d take ergonomics over “being deliberately different” any day.)
But it goes deeper than Nintendo, and deeper than sports games. Our two cultures are just very different. Last week, Gamespot posted an article titled “Japanese Developers Discuss, And Dis, The Next Gen Consoles.” It shows the comments and criticisms of the features of the XBOX 360 and the Sony PS3 that a panel of respected Japanese developers have. It’s a must read that will show just how far apart our cultures are, and how they just don’t get us. For example – here’s my favorite quote from Square-Enix’s Akitoshi Kawatsu- "Some PC users might take good advantage of those kinds of external connections (USB), but it's not something that's commonly practiced by people who come from the [console] gaming culture. For example, playing Famicom (NES) is as simple as just sticking in the game software."
Uh, sorry Akitoshi, but I think you are missing the fact that so many American households have current PCs in them, and many of them have current devices with USB connections. Perhaps I'm missing something? Is there something "intimidating" about plug and play USB device connectors that I don't recognize? The current XBOX has ALWAYS had USB controllers (though altered to make the connector proprietary) Its a simple matter of sticking the device connector in the proper hole... a toddler can figure it out in seconds. PCs have become far more integrated into American culture than they have in the orient. Online gaming is not quite the rage in Japan as it is here. This is especially evident in Nintendo's hardheadedness in regard to online games for the current GameCube.
(And a big factor in it being in a distant 3rd place in sales behind the PS2 and XBOX)
However, not all far-eastern developers are as hardheaded as many of those quoted in the article. Sony has always recognized the culture differences between those of the American gaming audience and the far-eastern one, and catered their catalogues accordingly, yet they surely seem to be a rarity amongst their far-eastern publishing partners. Perhaps Nintendo and those like them who keep trying to push games catered to far-eastern tastes would be wise to look at how Sony does business over here in the States, instead of criticizing the hardware and software that Americans like to purchase.
I simply don't see how alienating American gamers while constantly pushing the games they want us to play will help pull companies like Nintendo ahead of the more culturally-aware Sony and Microsoft. Both Sony and Microsoft also recognize the value of sports games and just how much those games sell their hardware.
Nintendo hasn't quite grasped that, along with many far-eastern developers who are still in denial about the differences between their's and the American Gaming culture.
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 08 February 2005 |
The other day I was visiting my local EB Games and conversing with a manager there that I’m friends with. I used to work at an EB store as a manager in the mid-1990s, and one thing I can tell you about working at EB- you get some good, real-time news. Their “daily memos” that print out when a manager logs onto the POS are filled with daily information about the games industry, most of it is so current that it doesn’t hit the online mags or web news sites for a week or two later. Its all confidential stuff, and I really do miss getting the daily, inside scoop on the games industry that I was once privy to. However, I still have some friends that work for the company, and we often chat about what’s going on in the industry. Most of these guys are hobbyists like we are, so they are game fans, just like us. One of the managers I know was talking to me about the state of the sports game industry after the “big deals” made by EA and Take Two. Being the football-centric fellow that I am, I immediately started talking about possible football games (without the NFL license) that I’d like to see made. He re-directed me back to the Take Two deal with Major League Baseball and the players, and that is where our talk got interesting….
Here's the discussion we had (posted from memory only.. don't assume its complete verbatim. I am paraphrasing from my own head!)
EB Manager: “Pretty big deal with the MLB, eh?”
Quietcool72: “Yeah, I suppose. Still, I don’t think it represents the kind of bling that the NFL deal does to EA.”
EB Manager: “Well, true- but it represents some key first-quarter cash that EA will be without for several years.”
Quietcool72: “I suppose so.”
EB Manager: “Think about their investor’s first quarter balance sheet. What other product do they have in the first quarter that generates the kind of money an MLB game rakes in? Pretty much nothing, other than the two “EA BIG” games, the not-very serious ‘Street’ ones. Those games do okay, but nothing like a major sim release. EA’s had repeat, big-business revenue in all quarters up to this point. Now Jan/March is going to be a problem for them starting in 2006- without baseball.”
Quietcool72: “I never thought of it that way, but you are correct.”
EB Manager: “Now- think about the amount of money EA has poured into re-vamping the once-lame “Triple-Play” series into the MVP series that many many people now buy. That investment will be dead after next month’s release of MVP 2005”
Quietcool72: “Yeah, that seems to be the case.”
EB Manager: “I contend that the MLB deal will hurt them more than if ESPN also had an NFL license. Madden has a commanding lead there anyway in terms of sales. But now EA has a soon-to-be dead product on their hands (MVP Baseball) that was very successful in a relatively “down” time of the gaming calendar.”
Quietcool72: “Okay- yeah, I can see that- but what can they do? About as much as Take Two can do about the NFL deal. Nothing.”
EB Manager: “They could sub-lease the rights they each have to one another. EA knows it will still dominate with the Madden fan base, but the extinction of their baseball franchise would really hurt, contrary to what they say. Take two will do well with the Baseball franchise they have, which has always done well, but needs the NFL license so their football series does not collapse. They could possibly “buy” sub leased rights from one another to share the contracts.”
Quietcool72: “That just seems so far-fetched.”
EB Manager: “Is it? You are thinking like a Pittsburgher who's bored with the Pirates' losing for the last 21 years. You don’t realize how big these baseball games are in some markets, and some BIG markets at that.. Take Two bought themselves one hell of a big bargaining chip, especially since very few products- other than baseball- generate big first quarter revenue.” Quietcool72: “Its an interesting notion though. We’ll see if something like that plays out.”
(END)
Now… keep in mind, this is speculation. However, it does pose an interesting possibility I hadn’t thought of before. We’ll see if my friend is any kind of sports game industry prophet as the year goes on, but I figured it’s a notion that would be good fodder for discussion in our forums.
See you on the virtual gridiron.. or the diamonds...or whatever... Quietcool72
Co Founder
Senior Writer
www.consolefootball.com
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 25 January 2005 |
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Okay, I'm gonna do the un-thinkable. I'm gonna talk baseball. I know- I know, I'm not a big , huge fan of MLB Baseball- and I think sooner or later it will have the same fate as the NHL because of poor management.
(You know... the obvious logic of "Geez guys, dontcha think we should pattern ourselves after the NFL with the cap and revenue sharing... that these jokers who run the league DONT SEEM TO GRASP!)
Okay... I'm off my soap-box now. (clears throat....)
What I'm talking about is video baseball, and the big deals that happened this week. Take Two interactive nabbed up both Visual Concepts AND the MLB 3rd party license within a few short hours of each other. The Visual Concepts move was obvious, and is a logical move, especially considering it was always seemed to be treated like the unwanted child of its parent (Sega) who's product marketing was -dare I say- nonexistent for many years of the NFL 2K series product. I have a feeling Visual Concepts is probably darn glad to be out from under the thumb of the Sega of Japan corporate machine. As for Take Two's scooping of the MLB Players Association 3rd party license exclusivity- here's how it translates.
1. The console-makers, Nintendo-Sony-XBOX, can still make their own licensed MLB first party games. They aren't nudged out at all. We'll still see Sony's baseball series, as well as any Nintendo/Microsoft baseball game (if they opt to make them) on their respective systems. These can have an MLB/MLBPA license.
2. HOWEVER- Take Two has EXCLUSIVE rights to be the only maker of MLB/MLBPA games in a 3rd party capacity. That just knocked out EA's MVP Baseball line after this coming year (the deal starts in 2006).
Well, many of the web publications are applauding this deal as "Take Two strikes back at EA" or they echo similar sentiment. Sorry folks, but I don't buy that one minute. I'm of the opinion that this deal is WORSE for gamers than the EA/NFL exclusivity deal was. Of course, many of you are saying "Is Quietcool72 off his rocker? This deal PALES in comparison!"
But lets look further...
At least with EA's deal, any owner of any system- be it GameCube, PS2, PS3, XBOX, XBOX2, and PC- can buy a licensed NFL football game. Madden (or whatever EA's football calls itself in the future) is available for everyone. However, the wording of the Take Two/MLB deal is such that EA- as a 3rd party- is blocked from using the MLB license.
But does anybody realize that EVERY game-maker who makes a PC game is actually a 3rd party!! So the PC people who could care less about hardball on the consoles may have just got screwed big-time by both the MLBPA and Take Two. T2 would have exclusive rights to PC distribution of licensed MLB games- but as of this date in history, Visual Concepts has yet to port any of its console games to PC.
Translation- If Take-Two and their new "2K Sports" label does not port its MLB game to PC, this deal did nothing but hurt PC hardballers! At least with EA's NFL deal, everybody at least had an NFL licensed game made for their system. As it stands now, there's no guarantee that "2K Sports" would even bother making PC games.
So, I personally think that this deal might even be worse than EA's NFL deal. PC gamers stand to get the shaft on baseball if VC/Take 2 do not opt to port their licensed game to PC, and that would be very unfair to the PC baseball loyalists- and they are many.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 13 October 2006 )
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 14 December 2004 |
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Last year's version of ESPN NFL was a masterpiece of play control, presentation, depth, and graphics. My own personal review of all of last year's football games had ESPN NFL 2K4 tied with Madden 2004. (You can find that review here: http://www.playmadden.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=257&mode=&order=0&thold=0 ) I felt that both games were quality, but each contained an equal amount of problematic flaws. ESPN had its overly-juiced running-game (especially online), and some very shaky PS2 online play, while Madden had the usual "gimme routes", "single-player comeback AI" and the notorious "Jetpack" cheese working against it. I felt that ESPN was far and away the better single player experience, while Madden was the clear-cut online/head-to-head game. But what causes such a big sales differential? The big difference between the two games has always been brand-establishing and marketing. The "Madden" series is going on its 15th year. Every American male under the age of 40 knows about the series. We played it in our youth on older systems. Marketing for Madden is easy, since many of us gamers are programmed to buying it, and have for over 10 years now. That said, EA still does a fantastic job of marketing their products, and Madden is their clear flagship title. Be it commercials, print ads, TV spots- you name it, EA is the king.
The 2K/ESPN series has always lagged behind in terms of marketing. The print ads were rare, and the TV commercials were even more scarce. In my opinion, up until very recently, Sega has done a poor job of promoting this great product and its features. A good example was how EA really trumpeted "Playmaker" controls last year. We all know that it was a new form of situational hot-route and directional play-mirroring on offense, as well as a safety-cheat left/right control on defense. We heard about Playmaker so much before the release of Madden 2004's release that we knew its feature mantra in our sleep. But what many of the fans didn't know is this: ESPN NFL had already had ALL those features in the previous year's version. Each and every one! They just didn't hype it. (And frankly, you had to dig into the game manual pretty deeply to realize they were there.) Oh, and by the way- the enhanced defensive controls that EA is touting for Madden 2005- such as hot blitzes, hot covers, hot double-teams, - guess what?
Every one of those features was already in last year's ESPN NFL 2K4!!!
The battle between John Madden NFL 2005 and ESPN NFL 2K5 is really heating up. And frankly, that's a good thing for us all. Not since the first two versions of NFL GameDay on the original Sony Playstation has anyone given the Madden series a "serious" run for its money. (And that was way back in 1995/96). Since then, Madden has been the clear and undisputed sales winner every year. Meanwhile, the Sega 2K/ESPN series, developed by Visual Concepts, has slowly carved out a niche' for itself since its debut on the now defunct Sega Dreamcast. The series has always had a great deal going for it, and their yearly innovations have always been numerous and well thought-out. That's not to say the series hasn't had its flaws but the same can easily (and accurately) be said of Madden, as well as all football games ever released. But it has always been what I would call "The Best Football Game That Few People Bought." The series has slowly garnered a hard-core following, as well as critical acclaim- often being awarded higher review scores than EA's Madden Football.
(You can also bet that the online franchise play that ESPN is promoting THIS year will eventually work itself into the Madden feature set- probably in Madden 2006.)
So we can clearly see that while the ESPN series really pushes innovation in their game, while Electronic Arts simply tells you about their features and markets/promotes them better. Madden Producer Jeremy Strauser, in a video interview with Gamespot, was quoted as saying (regarding the $20 price-point of ESPN NFL 2K$)- "Its clearly the difference between an 'A' product (Madden) and a "B" product (ESPN)"- Well, I have to disagree with him. In the past, it was a case of "A" marketing (EA's) versus "C" marketing (that of Sega).
-Perhaps Jeremy didn't read any of the reviews last year- (or care to mention them...) It was a neck and neck race in that regard. Just not in terms of marketing and overall sales.
But this year, things are much different. The information coming out of the Sega camp about ESPN NFL 2K5 is fast and furious, as well as the marketing. And then there's that price! I've never seen anything like it. The move has had its share of critics, but I applaud it. At that price-point, even Madden faithful will at least give the game a try. And that is exactly what they are counting on. Heck, you can pick up a great football title for under the price of a tank of gasoline for your car! Unheard of! And in doing that, Madden "faithful" will be exposed to "Living Rosters", "VIP Profiles", online franchises- where people in your league can trade players with one another, superior presentation, Chris Berman's live video highlights of other games around the league, Mel Kiper coming in mid-season to talk about hot college prospects for the draft, the "Crib", "First Person Football", and the great gameplay that those of us who know the series have come to expect.
....And they also are promising that they fixed the running game, and the shaky online play that plagued the PS2 version. All told, its easy to declare an early winner in the upcoming football video game wars. The winner is: The Gamers. Never before has the competition reached such a fever-pitch. Features- instead of mere roster upgrades and slightly more advanced graphics- are driving the war. Sega is pushing hard, and EA has to respond in kind. We the fans reap the rewards. The harder they push against each other, the more we get out of the games. Whether you are a fan of Madden or ESPN - or both- this battle is pushing our game experiences to higher levels.
See you on the virtual gridiron.
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